Exchange in brief

Saturday

Sep 29, 2007 at 11:30 PM

COMING MONDAY: Will falling home prices send the economy into a recession?

YOUR WEEK

Small Business Council/SMART Lunch Series

Trip Tollison, the Chamber's Vice President of Government Affairs and Existing Industry, will present "Paying Taxes: Statewide Reform is on the Way," a presentation on Georgia tax reform ideas and proposals that are being studied.

When: 11 a.m. Tuesday

Where: Savannah Morning News Auditorium, 1375 Chatham Parkway

RSVP is required

Cost: $9 for lunch

Contact: 644-6434 or ssmith@savannahchamber.com

More business calendar, xx

ON THE JOB

Unemployment allergy

Some people will say anything to get a job.

In a recent poll by staffing firm Accountemps, executives were asked to name the wackiest pitch they'd ever heard from a jobseeker. Here are some of their responses:

"An individual told me he was allergic to unemployment."

"One candidate said that we should hire him because he would be a great addition to our softball team."

"A person said he had no relevant experience for the position he was interviewing for, but his friend did."

"One person brought his mother to the job interview and let her do all the talking."

"One job seeker said he should get the job because he had already applied three times and felt that it was now his turn."

"One candidate sang all of her responses to interview questions."

"One individual said we had nice benefits, which was good because he was going to need to take a lot of leave in the next year."

The nonscientific national poll included responses from 150 senior executives with the nation's 1,000 largest companies.

More bosses using e-layoffs

A layoff could be lurking in your inbox.

A new national survey has found that 10 percent of employees report that their company has used e-mail to fire or lay off employees. Conducted by workplace communication firm The Marlin Co., the survey also found that 17 percent of employees said their boss used e-mail to avoid other difficult conversations.

"It's easier than doing it in person," said Marlin president Frank Kenna. It's also more convenient for busy bosses to send an e-pink slip when they're traveling or bogged down with work, he said.

The fallout from resorting to e-mail for sensitive discussions extends beyond the recipient, he said. It's bad for morale if other employees find out, and other managers could follow suit, spreading the tactless practice throughout the company.

E-mail can be used effectively, however, for addressing more minor issues. For example, it's appropriate for a boss to e-mail an employee about a late report in between performance reviews. But it's not OK to conduct the performance review itself over e-mail, Kenna said.

"It's just the right thing to give employees a chance to respond," he said.

The telephone survey of 752 U.S. workers was conducted in May and June.

Knickknack no-nos

Before you plaster your cubicle with family photos, little Jimmy's artwork or a poster of Brad Pitt, consider what all those knickknacks say about your professionalism.

If more than one in five items in your office or cubicle are personal, you may be viewed as unprofessional, according to research conducted at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

"There's this unspoken but widely known idea that is has to do with how you manage this work, non-work boundary," said professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, who conducted the research with colleagues Susan Ashford and Emily Heaphy of McGill University.

An aversion to blurring work and personal boundaries is largely an American phenomenon, he said. U.S. workers are expected to put aside personal matters upon walking through the office door, a result of a prevailing Protestant work ethic, Sanchez-Burks said.

In the study, 95 managers were given descriptions of professional and unprofessional workers. They were then asked to construct the office of each worker by placing stickers of dozens of items, from staplers to family photos to plants, onto images of an office. The researchers found that the professionalism of each worker was reflected in the proportion of objects that referenced their personal life.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.